Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2025
Mechanical Ventilation Boot Camp Curriculum
Published on: March 12, 2018
A Pediatric Resident Advocacy in Complex Care Curriculum
1Medical Director of Education and Research and Complex and Palliative Care Physician, Imagine Pediatrics.
Insights
A new curriculum significantly improved pediatric residents' knowledge and attitudes regarding advocacy for children with medical complexity (CMC). This training addresses a critical gap in preparing physicians to advocate for vulnerable youth with special healthcare needs.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Medical Education
- Healthcare Advocacy
- Complex Care
Background:
- Children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) are a vulnerable population.
- Children with medical complexity (CMC) are a medically fragile subset of CYSHCN.
- A gap exists in pediatric residency curricula specifically for advocating for CYSHCN/CMC.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and implement an advocacy curriculum for pediatric residents caring for CMC.
- To evaluate the curriculum's impact on resident knowledge, attitudes, and comfort in advocacy.
Main Methods:
- A 4-week complex care rotation incorporated Kolb's experiential learning cycle.
- Curriculum included didactic video lectures and experiential site visits focused on advocacy.
- Residents completed pre/post knowledge tests and surveys assessing attitudes and comfort.
Main Results:
- Significant improvements in resident knowledge (p < .001) were observed post-curriculum.
- Residents reported enhanced attitudes, diversity sensitivity, and comfort in advocating for CMC.
- Qualitative feedback indicated overwhelmingly positive learner reception.
Conclusions:
- The developed curriculum effectively enhances advocacy skills for pediatric residents.
- This program, utilizing didactic and experiential methods, addresses a key educational competency.
- It can serve as a standalone resource or supplement existing complex care training.
Introduction:
Children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) are a special, vulnerable population. Children with medical complexity (CMC) represent a smaller, medically fragile sliver (6%) of the US child population. Several professional pediatric entities direct (or require) pediatric educators to instruct residents in advocacy for all children, explicitly including CYSHCN/CMC populations. While many existing curricula address pediatric advocacy education, a gap remains in curricula specifically designed to aid learners in advocacy of CYSHCN/CMC.
Methods:
Using Kolb's experiential learning cycle as a framework, we designed and delivered a comprehensive outpatient complex care curriculum, including several didactic video lectures (total: 60:04 minutes, median: 6:25 minutes) and experiential site visits devoted to advocacy topics for CMC, as one portion of a 4-week elective complex care rotation. Residents completed pre- and posttests of knowledge and pre- and postsurveys to self-assess attitudes, comfort, and behavior; viewed didactic video lectures; and engaged in experiential site visits. Reflective statements captured attitudes regarding advocacy for CMC.
Results:
Between July 2016 and June 2020, 47 trainees completed the rotation; data were available for 30 trainees. Residents demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in knowledge (p < .001), as well as improved attitudes, diversity sensitivity, and comfort in advocating for CMC postrotation. Qualitative comments showed overwhelmingly positive learner reaction.
Discussion:
This curriculum, which can be offered as a stand-alone resource or a supplement to a comprehensive complex care curriculum, incorporates didactic and experiential teaching methods and addresses a significant competency in advocacy education.
More Related Videos
13:44Project-Based Learning Guidelines for Health Sciences Students: An Analysis with Data Mining and Qualitative Techniques
Published on: December 9, 2022
08:13Development and Implementation of a Multi-Disciplinary Technology Enhanced Care Pathway for Youth and Adults with Concussion
Published on: January 20, 2019
Related Concept Videos
01:13Patient-centered Care
01:30Specialized Care Centers and Settings-II
Rural health centers are specialized care facilities in remote locations with very few medical personnel. The primary care providers who run the centers are mostly Registered Nurse Practitioners. Here, emergency treatment is provided to critically ill or injured patients before they are transferred to the closest hospital. Fortunately, due to advancement in technology, many rural healthcare facilities and professionals have easy access to diagnostic and treatment...
01:17Ethical Dilemmas I
Let us explore some examples to understand the potentially complex moral decisions nurses face.
Take the case of caring for minors, particularly in areas related to reproductive...
01:18Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-II
Physical Therapist
A physical therapist (PT) aims to restore function or prevent additional impairment in a patient following an injury or disease. Massage, heat, cold, water, sonar waves, exercises, and electrical stimulation are some treatments used by PTs to treat...
01:21Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-I
Physicians
The physician's primary responsibility is to diagnose illness and direct the medical or surgical treatment of the condition. The authority to admit patients to a healthcare agency or institution and practice care within that setting is granted to physicians by the healthcare agency or institution...
01:30Ethical Dilemmas II